Screening | Spätschicht x Pop-Kultur Festival
Le Ping Pong d’Amour
With Elfe Brandenburger, Esther Buss, Katja Eydel, Stephan Geene, Monika and Stefan Rinck, Klaus Weber, Cornelia and Mano Wittmann and others
Le Ping Pong d’Amour © Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art
As part of Spätschicht x Pop-Kultur Festival, Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video presents the docu-soap Le Ping Pong d’Amour in the cinema of Gropius Bau.
The first edition of Spätschicht kicks off with Queer Ping Pong: this participatory format combines table tennis with queer club culture and invites visitors to take part in a tournament with six table tennis tables outside the Gropius Bau. For the Arsenal film institute, this is the perfect occasion to bring the docu-soap Le Ping Pong d’Amour (1997–2005) – created by and featuring Team Ping Pong (Elfe Brandenburger, Esther Buss, Katja Eydel, Stephan Geene, Monika and Stefan Rinck, Klaus Weber, Cornelia and Mano Wittmann and others) – back to the big screen.
Part 1 of Le Ping Pong d’Amour, Stil, Arbeit, Geld, Liebe (Style, Work, Money, Love), begins with a flat share that oscillates between the hustle fantasy of “young entrepreneurs” and real life. At the beginning of Part 2, Ideologische Staatsapparate (Ideological State Apparatuses), five years have already passed. The flatmates meet up once again; they have all become rich. Together they move into the Musée Rodin in Paris. In Part 3, Der Auftrag (The Mission), another five years have gone by and the group has scattered in all directions, this time all over the world: Damascus, Togo, Istanbul, Los Angeles, Cameroon, Berlin.
Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art is a research and education centre, archive, distribution, festival and cinema. With its relocation from Potsdamer Platz to silent green Kulturquartier, Arsenal will not have its own cinema until the new one is completed in early 2026. The collaboration with cultural institutions in Berlin such as Gropius Bau, arthouse cinemas and partners of the Arsenal on Location project will help to continue and further expand the cinematic dialogue, especially during this time. onlocation.arsenal-berlin.de
During the event, photographs and video recordings may be made in which you may be recognisable. By attending, you consent to these recordings being used to communicate the event or exhibition.